A "Passion" in Alabama

The following report was submitted by a Body Politic roving reporter
on the scene in Birmingham.

Operation Rescue staged its "Week of Passion" protest in Birmingham, Alabama,
during the week of April 26-May 2, 1994. The week's activities were
originally described by OR officials in various press appearances as a time
of prayer, workshops, and seminars for those who would stand for the rights of
"the preborn". As things developed, however, it became clear that the
primary intention of Operation Rescue was to stage protests and perhaps attempt
to block access to clinics. This was Operation Rescue's first large-scale
national activity since last year's IMPACT training in Florida, and its
first under the leadership of Flip Benham, who replaced Keith Tucci as
national director of Operation Rescue.

Passion Builds

Prominent members of Operation Rescue and associated organizations began
appearing in Alabama as early as mid-February in attempts to organize local
residents to become involved in the week-long activity. Pro-choice advocates
identified Johnny Hunter of Buffalo and Wendy Wright, OR spokesperson,
at early organizing meetings.

The first organizing meeting was held on Sunday, April 26, in Fairfield,
a Birmingham suburb. Estimated attendance at the meeting was 400. Attendees
were asked to sign a "non-violence" pledge card if they intended to
participate in protests.

Protests at Birmingham's four clinics began on Monday morning and continued
through the following Saturday. The Monday protests were for the most
part peaceful. Six protesters were arrested on Monday for attempting to
block a clinic driveway. Birmingham police were present in sufficient numbers
to deter any blockade actions that Operation Rescue organizers may have
been contemplating.

Passion Erupts

The first large group arrests occurred at Dr. Thomas Tucker's clinic on
Tuesday. Reverend Jim Pinto, who is considered a leader of anti-abortion
activists in Birmingham, was the first of 60 protesters arrested that day.
Johnny Hunter was also arrested. Fifty-eight of the protesters were arrested
for demonstrating without a permit. (Operation Rescue had applied for
demonstration permits several weeks in advance, but then refused the city's
permits and declared its intention to defy the city's ordinances.)
Two others were arrested for crossing a police line.

An interesting trend developed on Tuesday, one that persisted through the
week of protests. According to a list of arrested protesters published by the
Birmingham News, only two of the 66 people arrested on Monday and Tuesday were
from Alabama. Many of those arrested could be grouped by place
of residence. These groups originated from Fort Wayne, Indiana; Rochester,
NY; Dallas and Houston, Texas; and various cities in Florida. Others came
from as far away as Seattle. This trend toward very low local support for
the organization's planned lawbreaking activities was maintained at a
comparable level through the week.

According to clinic defense organizers, Wednesday and Thursday were
rather light days. There were no arrests on Wednesday, but 47 protesters were
arrested on Thursday at Dr. Tucker's clinic.

The Heat of Passion

As had been anticipated by clinic defense organizers, the largest and most
vocal protests took place on Good Friday, April 1st. Eighty-seven protesters
were arrested on Friday, including at least 30 children between the ages of 10
and 16. This prompted shouts from clinic defenders of "Child Arrest is
Child Abuse!", intended as a criticism of Operation Rescue's
willingness to use such tactics. The Birmingham News & Post-Herald
quoted an estimate of 1,800 protesters at clinics on Friday. Several clinic
defense organizers were of the opinion that the number of protesters was
somewhat lower.

The Thursday and Friday arrests were for violation of Birmingham's demonstration
ordinance, which limits the number of demonstrators allowed on the
sidewalk in front of a building. The ordinance also prohibits standing, sitting,
or kneeling (the demonstrators must keep walking).

One of the teenagers arrested, Heidi Huffman, appeared in Huntsville,
Alabama one week later for a fundraising banquet for Choose Life, an
anti-abortion front that advertises free pregnancy testing, medical
services, and assistance with continuing a pregnancy. Like many other
such organizations, Choose Life is blatantly anti-choice and has been
observed distributing anti-abortion literature at various functions.
Does the fact that Choose Life used a
young woman who 25 years ago might have been deemed a juvenile delinquent
as a fund-raising draw show how desperate is the state of their cause?

Ms. Huffman, 15, lives in South Carolina with her mother, and claims
to be the "survivor of a botched abortion." According to an account published in
the Huntsville Times, the "botched" abortion was only the first of three
that Heidi's mother sought before becoming an anti-abortion spokesperson. Like
many others in the anti-abortion movement, it appears that Ms. Huffman's
mother wants to be sure that she has freedom of choice to do as she pleases,
but that no one else has the freedom to make their own choices.

Passionate Observations

I traveled to Birmingham on Saturday, April 2, to experience the protests
at first hand. The only protests Saturday were occurring at the Summit
Women's Medical Center. Approximately 50-70 protesters were gathered across
the street from each of two main driveway entrances (for a total of
100-140 protesters at the clinic). Approximately 60 Birmingham police officers
were present, divided between the two main entrances. There were
about 30-40 clinic defenders at each driveway entrance, and another 40-50
assigned to building entrances and doorways.

As I observed the Operation Rescue protesters, I noticed a profound
difference between the protesters in Birmingham, some of whom had been in town
for a full week, and those I saw in Jackson the year before (during the
"Cities of Refuge" campaign). The Birmingham protestors were very quiet, still,
and reserved compared to those in Jackson. It was apparent that the experiences
of the week had been somewhat demoralizing. They responded only
occasionally to the exhortations of their leaders, who preached constantly
over a portable PA system that somehow did not violate any city noise
ordinances.

The most prominent speakers were Flip Benham, Johnny Hunter, and Demetrios
Rascoe. The prevalence of male speakers led defenders to shout "4, 6,
8, 10, why are all your leaders men?" The defenders often succeeded
in drowning out the PA box with chants such as "4, 3, 2, 1, we remember Dr.
Gunn!"

Protesting stopped about 11 a.m. Saturday morning, with plans to re-assemble
at nearby Brother Bryan Park at 12 noon. The noon rally was attended by
approximately 150-200 people, more than had been present at the clinic
earlier in the day. Most of the people present were wearing T-shirts with various
anti-abortion slogans, including one toddler who was wearing a shirt that
said "I survived the American Holocaust."

Passionate Ending

After songs and prayer, Flip Benham and Johnny Hunter introduced
Rev. Mickey Kirkland, who is a candidate for the Republican nomination for
governor of Alabama, and John Giles, a candidate for the Republican nomination
for lieutenant governor. Kirkland and Giles each spoke briefly about
the need to stop abortions. These speeches were followed by a prolonged
prayer huddle by the Revrends Benham, Hunter, Kirkland, and Mr.Giles.
Rev. Benham then wowed the crowd with an announcement that the morning's
protest had been an absolute success, because no babies had been
murdered that morning. Since abortion is not the murder of babies, one
could consider his statement to be true, after a fashion. However, the good
revrend was obviously trying to claim that no abortions had been performed
at the clinic that morning, a statement that was strangely at odds with the
fact that many patients entered and left the building that day. Rev. Benham
then described plans for a march back around the nearby clinics to wrap up
the week's events, and the crowd formed up and marched away.

Dispassionate Review

Considering that Operation Rescue's stated goal was to stand up for and
defend preborn babies, one must wonder how anyone could consider the week's
efforts successful. Over 200 protesters were arrested (and just as quickly
released, some to be arrested more than once during the week), but the arrests
were so prompt that there was no opportunity for massive blockades or assaults
of the nature of those seen in earlier years in Wichita and Buffalo. (see
the Network p.36) It was also clear that the protesters had attracted some
negative attention, since many drivers shouted insults at the protesters as they
drove by.

It's early to tell whether Operation Rescue is suffering from malaise, lack
of public support, or disorientation over the change of leadership earlier this
year. In any event, it is clear that the organization can no longer attract
the number of dedicated protesters willing to blockade that it managed to draw
to the Wichita and Buffalo sieges.